Revision as of 05:26, 1 April 2014

I picked up some Masonite for use in the laser cutter. It works well for raster engraving, but it's too dense for vector; multiple passes didn't come close to cutting through the material.

I wasn't sure where to put this on the main page, since it looks like Masonite is totally suitable for raster and totally unsuitable for vector.

Glenn from Dallas Makerspace again.

For a fire extinguisher we use a 9 oz paintball CO2 tank with one of these nozzles from Ebay works great and its cheap to fill at any sporting goods store that sells paintball stuff. The tank costs about $12, the nozzle about $14 and to fill is $3.

I received your information from Amy @ the Epilog factory in Golden. I would like to talk to you regarding your interest in the laser system and to discuss more about the ideal laser for the environment in which you are looking to place the laser. If you could please provide me your contact #, I would be happy to call you, or if you prefer, you can contact me at any of the #’s listed below.

I agree leasing may be the best option because there is a degree of service that is required that may be best left to the vendor. It also means we can experiment with off brand systems without much buyer's remorse.

I have experience with a shared laser engraver at Techshop and can bring some logistical lessons learned from that experience (once I resuscitate those brain cells.) We can see if Epilog is interested in giving us the same deal that Techshop got since NB and Techshop at least have the "den of future customers" aspect in common.

BUT: After several bad experiences, I (Jtfoote 05:23, 13 May 2010 (UTC)) am considerably less gung-ho about shared equipment at Noisebridge. I find myself unwilling to lead an acquisition, and I have substantially reduced my pledge. It would still be a great thing to have, but I am unwilling to commit much energy to this.

Update 12/15/2009

The laser cutter issue has been revived. We may be able to lease one for around $150/mo. Make a pledge below to help make it happen!

However some of these random no name Chinese brands are undercutting that -new-. Matt Westervelt in Seattle recently got a 50W unit from Redsail for about $3000. In a similar price range, Jeri Ellsworth in PDX ordered a JCUT 3040 with a 60W laser bulb after some haggling. Ebay has some very small engraver units for $1000 (dubious quality) and Jake said he saw some units for as low as about $250 in Shenzhen (presumably similar to that low end engraver, questionable quality).

If we can collect information here about some different viable models, how much space they take, how powerful they are, what their surface area is, software compatibility, etc. And can determine what looks good - let's see what we can do.

I've got a close friend in HK who has dual Chinese & HK license plates and if we have a specific model he may be able to hunt it down and slow boat it to us for some costs savings. Maybe not, but it's worth looking into. -grey